The play opens with a mutinous crowd of Roman citizens on the
verge of rebellion due to the scarcity of grain. It is one of the most
tumultuous openings of all of Shakespeare’s plays. The citizens are
armed with weapons and are hostile towards the patrician, Caius
Marcius. The First Citizen emerges out of the crowd as the chief
spokesman and tests the mob’s resolve to die rather than endure
starvation. He voices the general opinion that Caius Marcius is the
“chief enemy to the people ” and incites the mob to kill him so that
they can have corn at their own price. The First Citizen further
denounces the patricians whose subhuman treatment of the
plebeians has become too much to bear. He states that their actions
are motivated by “hunger for bread” and not by “thirst for
revenge.” The First Citizen derogatorily dismisses Caius Marcius
as “a very dog to the commonalty” and says that though he has
performed great services to the state. Shouts are heard from within,
and the mob realizes that there has been an uprising in another part
of the city. This news further incites the mob, which is now about
to rush towards the Capitol, but are stopped by the arrival of
Menenius Agrippa.

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Menenius Agrippa is a friend of Caius Marcius and “one that hath
always loved the people.” Even the First Citizen admits that
Menenius is “honest enough: would all the rest were so!” Seeing
the frenzied mob armed with clubs and staves, he inquires about
their purpose. He tries to dissuade the plebeians from attacking the
Capitol by pointing out that the patricians have their welfare
genuinely at heart. Agrippa blames their suffering and lack of food,
not on the government, but on the gods; he tells the crowd that
supplication on their knees and not armed rebellion would alleviate
their misery. This only serves to further incite the mob, and the
First Citizen reiterates their grievances against the patricians, who
are supposedly hoarding grain.

Menenius attempts to convince the crowd that the patricians do
have their welfare at heart by recounting a fable in which the
members of the body revolt against the belly, but eventually realize
that the belly sustains them all. He likens the Senate to the belly
and the crowd to the mutinous members and alludes to the First
Citizen as being “the great toe of this assembly.” At this point
Caius Marcius enters and addresses the mob most disrespectfully
as “dissentious rogues.” When he learns from Menenius that the
crowd is rebelling because grain prices are high, Caius becomes
enraged. He criticizes the mob’s presumptive attitude that prompts
them to dispute the Senate. He threatens to slaughter them and
reveals that the uprising in another part of the city has been
quelled. He also explains that five tribunes have been appointed to
protect the commoners’ interests. Caius is so infuriated by these
appointments that he can only recall the names of two tribunes ---
Sicinius Velutus and Junius Brutus.

A messenger rushes onstage with the news that the Volscians are
in arms and intend to attack Rome. Marcius is overjoyed at this
news and says that a war will disperse the mob. Soon a delegation
of Roman Senators and Tribunes arrive. They include Cominius,
Titus Lartius, Sicinius Velutus, and Brutus. The Senators reaffirm
the news of the Volscian attack and ask Marcius to assist Cominius
in the war, which he is eager to do. Marcius then praises the valor
of the Volscian leader, Aufidius, describing him as a lion whom he
is proud to hunt.

After everyone has departed except two of the tribunes, Sicinius
tells Brutus that he is surprised that the proud Marcius is willing to
be second in command to Cominius. Brutus shrewdly observes that
the second in command is not a bad position; if the Romans are
defeated, all the blame will fall on Cominius, and if they emerge
victorious, Marcius will receive great praise for his valor and
courage. The scene closes as the two tribunes leave for the Capitol.